


Biomechanical Force

by LaLainaJ



Series: Make Some Noise [17]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Actor!Klaus, Alternate Universe - Human, F/M, Flirting, Meet-Cute, Not So Accidental Injury, klarolineauweek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-24
Updated: 2015-10-24
Packaged: 2018-04-27 20:03:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5062150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaLainaJ/pseuds/LaLainaJ
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The only reason Caroline agreed to teach Enzo about American Football was because she's a GREAT friend. She regrets it when his ineptitude knocks out the hot guy on a park bench she'd been eying.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Biomechanical Force

**Author's Note:**

> For Day One of klarolineauweek AU: All Human (Celebrities)

**Biomechanical Force**

**(Prompt from an Anon:** **"i was trying to read in the park and your stray football fucking knocked me unconscious" klaroline au. Rated T.)**

"Oh my god!" Caroline exclaims, her hands flying up to cover her face. This is possibly the most mortifying thing to ever happen to her. Maybe not  _ever_ , because sometimes she still cringes, looking back at her teenage self. But it'll definitely go down in history as the most embarrassing moment she'd experienced since she'd reached legal drinking age.

She is going to murder Enzo.

Biting her lip, she slowly uncovers her face, prepared to apologize profusely for Enzo's inability to throw a football properly. She expects the guy who'd gotten hit (a super-hot hottie, and yeah Caroline might have been paying a little more attention to him than to correcting Enzo's technique but the fact that she was wasting a sunny Sunday on this, just because of a stupid contest Damon had roped Enzo into was  _ridiculous_. She deserved a little eye candy for her trouble) to be irate, rubbing his head and glaring daggers, but he's not.

He's slumped slightly to the side, the book he'd been reading having fallen to the ground.

Oh shit.

The contrite words she'd been crafting flee her brain, and she sprints over to the bench. She hesitates, but then tugs the guys sunglasses off his face (carefully, because they were clearly designer, and she'd hate to have to explain that she broke them, in addition to being a party to causing whatever head injury he might have sustained).

And then her heart sinks further, because she  _knows_  his face. Not because they'd ever met, but because it graces tabloids and big screens regularly. And okay, fine, he might have featured in an explicit dream or two, after she saw that one with the swords, where he was half naked and sweaty most of the time. Entirely naked and sweaty for a very steamy scene that Caroline definitely hadn't watched repeatedly, on the Blu Ray copy that she owned.

Enzo's come up behind her, though he seems to be in no hurry. He bends to pick up the football, tossing it between his hands, "Whoops. Seems I don't quite know my own strength. Or perhaps this ball is just defective? American football is so odd."

"Enzo," Caroline whispers furiously, "do you  _know_  who this is?"

"The bloke you've been ogling since we got here?"

Caroline smacks him, with the back of her hand, because was this really the time? Could he not see that she had her panicked face on? "No! He's…"

But Enzo cuts her off with a scoff, "Don't deny it, Caroline. I have perfect vision and you were doing an awful lot of that hair tossing thing you do when you flirt."

Caroline groans, resisting the urge to hit him again. Harder, possibly in the head. But two head injuries probably weren't better than one, "Not, 'No, I wasn't ogling him,'" Caroline bites out, holding up a hand when Enzo looks like he's about to butt in, "Shut up, Enzo. I meant no, as in he's not just a guy I'd been ogling. He's Klaus Mikaelson."

Enzo eyebrows creep up, recognizing the name, and her leans forward, peering at Klaus' (could she call him that? Probably not. But what was she supposed to call him?) unconscious face. "Huh. So he is. Thought he'd be bigger." He brought a hand up, and tapped Klaus' face, none to gently.

"Enzo!" Caroline hissed, outraged, shoving his arm down, even as Klaus' eyelashes fluttered and he made a soft noise.

"What? He's waking up. That's good, right? And he's English. He'll likely agree with me about the weird balls."

Caroline shushed Enzo, because waking up to a strange man talking about balls would certainly freak her out, so Caroline thought she should spare Klaus that. "Go get my water bottle," she hissed, taking a seat on the bench.

"An errand boy, am I?" Enzo muttered, but jogged away.

Klaus made another noise, louder this time, and his eyes popped open for an instant, before they squeezed shut again, and he brought a hand up to rub his head.

"Um, hi," Caroline started, her hands twisting nervously in her lap. "I'm Caroline. And you're… well, you know who you are. And I know who you are. Should I pretend that I don't? Sorry. I've never met anyone famous before, and I've also never injured anyone famous before so I'm not entirely sure what the protocol is. Not that I injured you. That was all Enzo. I could throw a better spiral than that when I was like nine."

He made another sound, low in his throat, and this time it sounded more amused than pained. Caroline took that as a good sign. He sat up, turned his head to look at her, and having those eyes trained on her was way different than seeing them on her television. Caroline hoped she wasn't blushing.

A thought occurred to Caroline, and she sucked in a deep breath, "Wait. You  _do_ know who you are, right? Oh, god. Please tell me you don't have amnesia?"

He laughed softly, and when he spoke it was low and much more polite than Caroline thought she deserved, "No, rest assured I do not have amnesia. My name is Klaus. It's lovely to meet you, Caroline."

Well, that was a relief. "Okay, good. I mean, I thought it was a little Lifetime movie, but it would kind of be just my luck, you know? And I am so, so, sorry. I really should have been paying more attention, but honestly I never thought Enzo would make it anywhere near you. Please don't sue us. Your face looks fine, and that's what's important, right?"

"Just fine?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Perfect," Caroline tells him, "not that I think actors are stupid, but…"

He grabs the hand that she'd been gesturing wildly with, in her agitation, pressing the back of it against his knee, running his fingers over his wrist, "Breathe, love. I was teasing. I'm fine. No plans to sue, I promise. I have brothers so I've likely taken harder hits, with no lasting effects."

Caroline nods, and takes his advice, taking a deep breath in, and letting it out slowly, "Okay. Awesome. Thank you."

"You're welcome," he tells her, his thumb still rubbing circles on the delicate skin over her pulse. And if his goal was to get her to calm down? It sort of wasn't working. Because it kind of felt like he was flirting with her. But he couldn't be, right? Probably just a side effect of his head injury.

They both looked up, hearing Enzo's footsteps approaching. Caroline sends her friend a warning glare, because she'd gotten Klaus to agree to no lawsuits, and she really needed Enzo on his best behavior, so Klaus' mind did not change.

Enzo thrusts the Caroline's water bottle at her, before turning slightly to Klaus, "Apologies for your head."

Not exactly effusive, Caroline will admit, but it could have been worse. She offers the bottle to Klaus, "It's mine. No cooties, I promise."

He takes it without hesitating, taking a long sip, watching Enzo curiously, "Aren't you going to introduce me to your boyfriend, love?"

Enzo makes a face at that, and Caroline can feel herself doing the same, "Oh, he's not my boyfriend. Just my friend. He sat next to me at the most boring Introductory Sociology class in the history of the world. We bonded out of necessity. Been buds ever since."

Enzo grins, and Caroline braces herself, because there's a little hint of 'up to no good' there that she recognizes, "Right. Like comrades in arms, really. Besides, mate. If I was in love with her, do you really think I'd not have objected to the way you were watching her arse, every time she bent over?"

Caroline freezes, feels her face begin to heat, and notes Klaus stiffening next to her, "Enzo," she suggests tightly, "why don't you go wait in the car? I'll be right there."

With a mocking salute, Enzo lopes off, leaving them in a slightly awkward silence. "I'm sorry, about him," Caroline apologizes, "things just kind of come out of his mouth. It's sort of part of his charm, but maybe I'm just used to it."

He sets the water aside, and takes her hand again, "That's quite all right. And he wasn't entirely incorrect."

Caroline turns to look at him once more, opens her mouth, before she snaps it shut again. Because it wasn't every day that an attractive man so boldly admitted something like that. At least not to her.

"I'd like to think it wasn't as base, as your friend made it out to be, but I  _was_ looking at you."

"Why?" Caroline blurts out.

Klaus shrugs, "I heard you laugh. And I looked over. And then I had a hard time looking away. Perhaps I should thank your friend. And his terrible aim. Because I'd not have gotten the opportunity to speak to you, otherwise."

Caroline's just about to make a joke, something about how he must have a concussion, but he speaks before she can, "Would you have dinner with me, tonight?"

She's silent, incredulous, for a long moment. "Seriously?" she asks, unable to keep the disbelief from coloring her tone.

"Completely," he replies, immediately. "You're beautiful, and interesting. Anywhere you want to go. I'll take you."

The 'yes' tumbles out before Caroline can even think about it. And he smiles, bright and genuine, and she doesn't think to try to back out. They exchange numbers, arranging to meet at a Greek place that Caroline likes, later that evening. She walks away, feeling sort of dazed, but excited, wondering if she has time to go shopping. She wants to dress to impress, and she's not sure anything she has fits the bill.

When she climbs into the driver's seat, Enzo takes one look at her, at the giddy grin she's fighting, and snorts, "Mr. Hollywood made a move, then?"

She rolls her eyes, sliding her keys into the ignition, "Be nice. He could have taken your life savings all because you have shitty aim."

"Au contraire, Gorgeous. My aim was flawless. A little gratitude out of you for my exceptional wingmanship would be nice."


End file.
